Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes $23.11 Million Position in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 336,109 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $23,111,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 1.32% of Lakeland Financial as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Lakeland Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $50,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in Lakeland Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $53,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in Lakeland Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $74,000. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 62.3% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,672 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 642 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 72.2% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,123 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $138,000 after acquiring an additional 890 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.15% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Lakeland Financial news, SVP Donald Robinson-Gay sold 550 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.25, for a total transaction of $36,437.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,974 shares of the company's stock, valued at $329,527.50. This trade represents a 9.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director M Scott Welch acquired 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $61.40 per share, with a total value of $307,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 39,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,394,600. This trade represents a 14.71 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

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Lakeland Financial Price Performance

Shares of LKFN traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $62.04. The stock had a trading volume of 104,377 shares, compared to its average volume of 109,489. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.61 billion, a PE ratio of 17.09 and a beta of 0.63. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $57.45 and a 12 month high of $78.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $66.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.81.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.05. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 21.74% and a return on equity of 13.31%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, January 25th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This is a boost from Lakeland Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. Lakeland Financial's dividend payout ratio is 55.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $74.00 target price (up previously from $73.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a report on Monday, January 27th.

Lakeland Financial Company Profile

Lakeland Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Lake City Bank that provides various banking products and services in the United States. The company accepts various deposit products, such as noninterest bearing, interest-bearing checking, savings, money market, NOW, and demand deposits.